Fertilizer is commonplace on farms for enhancing growth of crops. The fertilizer is typically stored in bulk in large containers. The fertilizer is then loaded onto another piece of equipment such as a trailer, tractor, or truck when the fertilizer is to be applied to the crops.
Loading of the fertilizer from its storage container to another piece of equipment may be achieved by discharging the fertilizer into an inlet hopper of a conveyor that is below a discharge opening of the storage container. The conveyor then delivers the fertilizer to the piece of equipment.
During storage, the fertilizer which is typically in particulate form may have tendency to form clumps which are not suitable for application to the field. Clumps may form due to moisture which hardens loose fertilizer particles together. Furthermore, discharge of the loose fertilizer particles from the respective storage container may cause bridging which may block the inlet hopper.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,591,377 to Puda et al. teaches a method and apparatus for a vibrating screen aggregate separator which separates finer grained material from aggregate material that may contain a variety of undesired materials. The patent to Puda may have some potential shortcomings including that the vibrating screen is coupled to a container in such a manner that the screen may not be readily decoupled therefrom.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,095,705 to Hood describes an agricultural airplane loading device comprising a screen mounted on a hopper an auger. The loading device is for loading material into a reservoir of an airplane. The loading device comprises a pulley arranged for rotating the auger and a mass disposed eccentrically relative to the pulley for generally vibrating the hopper. Vibrations of the hopper are conducive to vibrating of the screen mounted thereto; however, the vibration is limited because the screen is fixed to the hopper which is in turn fixed to a hopper frame.
The Applicant provides a unique solution for an inlet hopper of a conveyor for screening particulate material fed into the inlet hopper of the conveyor. The Applicant's solution may overcome the potential shortcomings of the prior art references.